Preparation

Heat a large, deep, heavy casserole dish over medium-high heat. Sprinkle the ribs with salt and pepper and cook for 4–5 minutes on each side or until well browned. Remove from the dish and set aside.

Wipe the dish with absorbent paper, add the onion and garlic and cook for 5 minutes or until golden. Return the ribs to the dish with the oregano, vinegar, tomatoes, stock, salt and pepper, reduce the heat to low, cover and simmer for 2 1/2–3 hours or until the beef is very tender. Remove the ribs from the dish and keep warm.

Strain the pan juices and skim the fat from the surface. Pour into a saucepan and simmer over high heat for 5–10 minutes or until the sauce has thickened.

To make the basil gremolata, place the basil, lemon zest, garlic, oil, salt and pepper in a bowl and mix to combine.

Divide the ribs among plates and spoon the sauce over. Top with the gremolata to serve.

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Reviews

Hearty, tasty, and very savory--the lemon-garlic-basil gremolata makes a great counterpoint. The shortribs became fall-off-the-bone tender and paired well with mashed potatoes. I loved it, but my husband wasn't as impressed--if you don't like slow-cooked beef, this won't convert you.

Great recipe. I added a celery and carrot and I think you can slightly reduce the broth and vinegar but not too much. It had great flavor served with mashed potatoes. I forgot to make the gremolata-will do that next time. I used a sprinkle of dried oregano and cooked this in the oven at 350 degrees for 2.5 hours. Will make again.

I didn't change a thing in this recipe. It's phenomenal. One major recommendation - make the day before and refrigerate it. It takes the extra day for the flavors to come together and mellow and there will be quite a bit of fat to scrape off and dump. I actually separated the meat and onions from the sauce and refrigerated/stored them that way. Then I'd heat up the meat and put some sauce in a separate pan and reduce it to serve.
The pinnacle of this dish is the gremolata - anyone who didn't bother - missed out! I chopped the basil instead of using tiny leaves - best gremolata I've ever had - will use this combination for other dishes going forward.
Not sure why other reviewers were overwhelmed by the balsamic. The dish has a pretty strong nose, but the taste is beautiful and integrated. We were concerned the vinegar taste would be too much and kill any wine with it, but it wasn't. Paired beautifully with a more fruit-forward Oregon Pinot Noir as well as an older, non-fruity Barbaresco (only two of us - we happily got to eat this for several nights).

This is the second time I've made these - took the advice of others and cut the broth in half. Added some cornstarch to the sauce in the reduction portion to help thicken it...that was a good add. Also, the first time I made it the ribs were in long strips...this time - shorter pieces and it was WAY easier. So amazing and so great. I also keep the strained veggies and put them back into the sauce when I served it. The garlic and onions tasted fantastic.

Great recipe. The balsamic adds a really nice subtle flavor and the gremolata is a must. I cut the broth in half and still had plenty. My only complaint is that the meat is so fatty. This is my first time making ribs so maybe that's normal, but I suspect maybe I got a super fatty cut from the butcher. There were a lot of hunks of "meat" that were more fat than meat. I would make it again, but only with leaner meat.

Excellent! This is now our favourite short ribs recipe.
I was going to double the meat but I didn't have enough vinegar. Then, when we were finished I realized I had enough broth to cook the extra ribs.
And I agree, the gremolata is a terrific touch.

Great recipe, however, if you don't like vinegar follow this recipe of mine.
Brown short ribs
Slice onion thinly in half moons
Brown onions in pot or pressure cooker
Add meat (add a little salt and pepper)
Cover with *cream* sherry
Cook until tender
Serve with roasted potatoes and cover them with short rib sauce
If you serve this with potatoes, you probably will not have leftover sauce!
You won't believe how good this is. : )

ON the advice of several earlier review I used less liquid than the recipe called for by about a third, there was still plenty. I loved the dish, my significant other was just ok with it. If you make it don't skip the gremolata, it really made the dish pop. When the leftovers were served I used an immersion blender to incorporate the veggies into the remaining liquid, I still loved it, he still did not. So, alas I will probably not make it again.

Wonderful bursts of flavor and the ribs fall from the bone. The prep is fun and a bit scary at first with all the aromatic but the favors blend beautifully. The leftovers are even better!! The gremolata adds such brilliant color and flavor to the dish as well.

Excellent dish. Quite easy to prepare to other rib dishes we have. I cooked in oven at 350 for 2 and half to 3 hours. I put parchment paper on top of the ribs, seems to keep them moister. We did not make the basil condiment and the dish was very well received. We did not find we had too much fluid for the sauce.

We will keep this in our binder of "keeper" recipes. I did make some modifications, though. Half the ribs were "boneless country style" instead of short, which had a lot less fat on it so less fat to deal with later. I used 1 cup of vinegar, and later 1/4 cup red wine to thin the sauce. We reduced the pan juice after straining. Out of necessity, I used some pasta sauce that was mostly toms and oregano instead of chopped toms and oregano. Overall it turned out wonderful!

Made this last night, followed the recipe as described and served over noodles. While it was easy and had that Fall "comfort" factor, the sauce was a little one-dimensional--very balsamic-y, a bit overwhelming. Also a lot of fat, sauce was quite heavy. Probably will not make again.

Delicous and easy, with only a few modifications as suggested by previous reviewers: cut back on liquids (both balsamic and stock); and braised in 325° oven for 3 hours. Skimmed fat from sauce and blended with immersion blender to thicken. Served with polenta and roasted brussels sprouts for a wonderful autumn meal.

If there's too much sauce, you could always thicken it with a little Wondra flour (it doesn't clump) sprinkled over the top, or corn or potato starch. Then simmer for a few minutes. Another thing that I've been doing since I got my immersion blender is to remove the meat once it's tender, and then blend all those lovely, long-cooked vegetables into a nice, thick sauce. If you do this, you don't need the flour. If you do add wine to the sauce, you'll have to de-fat before blending because wine emulsifies fat. It's easier if you put the sauce into the fridge overnight which will make skimming the fat off much easier. Then re-heat the meat and sauce. Once the sauce is hot, you can add some fresh vegetables (carrots and potatoes leap to mind), and cook till tender.